The Gift of Family
by HiddenMusic
Summary: Neal hasn't got a family, not as an ex-con with a runaway girlfriend. Though with the Burkes, he may be proved wrong when Thanksgiving comes around.


**_Author's Notes~_**

My first White Collar fic~ in the spirit of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday! Read and enjoy! :)

**The Gift of Family**

Subtle decorations decked in colors, mainly of those of autumn like crisp orange or radiant gold with hints of fire-red and an earthly brown, where set up throughout. There were leaves, turkeys, pilgrims and scarecrows; they all pictures on store windows or wooden figures in the ground. They were chimes, pickets, reefs, or just that turkey plush that sat on the couch or by the window. They were subtle, yet spoke loudly of the Thanksgiving holiday.

The autumn leaves fell from the roof of the car as Peter swept them away, sighing. He can't even remember what made him think to park his car under a tree during the season where they drop their leaves on whatever is below for someone else to clear away.

"This car is new…." Peter muttered under his breath as he shooed off the remaining leaves before rubbing against the hood of the car with his sleeve to ensure it kept nice.

"Are the leaves ruining your holiday?" the smooth-sounding voice of Elizabeth behind him echoed, carrying a couple of plastic sacks in her arms.

"They'll ruin my car at least," retorted Peter, digging into his pocket for his keys, finding them and unlocking the car door.

"Oh, yes. Those small leaves make such a difference, won't they?" El mused with a sarcastic edge as she headed to the back of the car and placed her two sacks in the trunk of the car.

"Yes, and bunch of them could cause a huge difference, could they?" Peter countered, getting into the driver's seat of the car.

"Uh, a little help would be nice over here," both Peter and El turned to see the third and final person of their small party, Neal, carrying just about most of the groceries, including the turkey.

"Oh! Sorry Neal, here, let me help you there," El said, skidding over to him and taking half of what the ex-con carried and bringing them to the trunk with Neal behind her, "Thanks," was Neal's grateful, simple and quick reply.

Peter groaned and rested his head against the head of his seat. His wife made him come with her to shop for their Thanksgiving feast. Shopping, he hated it. Of course though, Neal didn't seem to mind at all when El asked him along. Well, Neal never seems to mind to do favors for El.

After everything was loaded, El and Neal both boarded the car, Neal in the back and El in the front passenger's seat and Peter didn't hesitate to drive off as soon as they were in. He wanted as much distance between him and the store as he could get.

"Hey, Peter, rushing a little, are we?" Neal's usual annoying voice from the back spoke up.

"I just think we ought to get everything on ice and kept fresh before it rots," Peter explained lamely and wasn't questioned about it any further.

Aside from the occasional, random remarks from Neal which El would reply to, the ride to June's was in silence.

Pulling over in front of the grand house –lucky Neal – El smiled, "Thanks for the help, Neal,"

Neal smiled and nodded to El, "No need, I enjoyed myself," he then got out of the car, heading up to June's with that silly – so Peter sees it – top hat on his head.

Peter didn't stay long, as soon as Neal was out, he was off with the anxiety to get home and relax. Shopping in all of its types was a pain, and it took forever for them to find the right, the _exact _things. El refused to accept the ones 'close enough'. And Neal's constant witty remarks or just plain annoying remarks made things no better.

"Why…" began Peter, "_Why _did you have to bring Neal along? We could have done this all ourselves,"

"Right, you carrying nothing and worrying only for the car wasn't that big of a help so really you don't count for much," El pointed out with a knowing glance in his direction.

"I was going to help, but you both beat me to it," Peter stated in his defense stubbornly.

"You were first," shot back El, though she rolled her eyes and went on, "But that wasn't the point of bringing Neal along,"

"Honey, if I may ask, _why else _would you want him around?" Peter questioned, giving her a curious look for a brief moment before gazing back on the road.

"First of all, Neal's company isn't a torture for the general audience and second, who does Neal have to spend the holidays with?" El questioned in return.

"He's got June of course. He seems to get along will with that family," answered Peter curtly.

"June left to visit family elsewhere for Thanksgiving, leaving the maids to tend to the house. Neal hasn't-"

"Oh, _no_," Peter cut her off with a pleading look, "Don't tell me-"

"_Yes _Peter," confirmed his wife, "I'm going to invite Neal over for Thanksgiving. And _you'll _be happy about it!" she snapped.

"Oh, come on! He doesn't even seem that depressed about it," Peter said desperately, not wanting his peaceful Thanksgiving with his wife to be ruined.

"Don't you understand body language? It's obvious Neal is depressed because everyone is preparing for Thanksgiving and time with loved ones while the one person he loved walked out on him!" El said in a tone not worth arguing with.

Peter groaned, "Fine…_fine_! You can go ahead and ask him then,"

"Oh, _you'll _be the one to ask him," corrected El smugly.

"You said _you _were the one inviting him!" exclaimed Peter irritably.

"When we got married, we became one. So I am you and you are me," El reminded him, a grin on her face, "Oh, come on. You don't need a Master's Degree to do it and it's not like I'm asking you to sing Christmas Carols to him,"

"I bet you will when Christmas comes," Peter muttered as he pulled up in their driveway.

It was the next morning Elizabeth pushed Peter out of the house so he could go and invite Neal. Peter highly didn't want to ask the ex-con to spend time with him and his wife for whatever holiday. Well, there was always the chance that Neal could decline he supposed.

While driving to June's, he was deciding on whether to go slow and take his time getting there, or speeding it up to get it over with faster. He ended up taking it slowly.

Answering the door was one of the maids, whom smiled and nodded to Peter in greeting after saying whom he was here for. He headed up swiftly to the top where Neal had his rented place.

Reaching the door, he knocked.

No answer.

He knocked again.

Nothing.

"Neal?" called Peter, eyes burrowed, wondering why Neal wasn't answering. Not home perhaps?

Then there was an answer and there was Neal on the other side, he a his usual sly grin and expression on his face, "Peter," he greeted, "What do you need?" Peter then noticed something fake about the greeting.

"Hey, Neal," Peter returned the greeting, "May I come in?"

Neal seemed to blink a few times before nodding, "Oh, sure!" he said, moving out of the way and letting Peter in. When he entered, Peter found the atmosphere rather dark and more depressing than usual. On the table in Neal's private – lucky Neal! – kitchen was the very same bottle left to him by his runaway girlfriend. It seemed to be the only thing out and the chair closest to it was pushed back, indicating Neal had been sitting there probably just before answering the door.

"What's going on?" Peter inquired as he observed.

"Nothing," claimed Neal, walking along in front of Peter, grabbing the bottle and placing it aside.

"Still admiring that bottle?" assumed Peter, looking at it once more.

Neal didn't make any response at first, then spoke, "Yeah…" was the breathy response. The ex-con gazed down at the bottle; his eyes had a glint of memory in them.

Peter heaved a sigh, "How was Thanksgiving like for you and Kate?"

The corners of Neal's mouth seemed to twitch in a small smile as he recalled, "We never needed much. Small glass of wine on a balcony under the stars was good enough for us. Thankful for what we manage to have,"

Peter couldn't help but let loose a small chuckle, "A con-man being thankful for what he had. Don't think I've heard that before,"

"Don't know if you ever will again," added Neal, a very brief and small laugh with it, "Have to be thankful for things you can never steal,"

Peter nodded grimly in agreement, knowing what Neal meant by that. He had been thankful for Kate's love and faith, and now not even she was here. He took a breath, "You know Neal…." He began, "If you'd like, you can spend Thanksgiving with El and I." he offered, and it was for real.

Neal's head whipped around to Peter, looking surprised, "Wh-What?" he stammered, confused.

Peter smiled, "Come on now, you heard me clearly,"

Neal looked down at the bottle for a moment, then looked back up, "Peter…I can't. I can't ruin your own family holiday,"

Peter chuckled, "Really, with how much El has you running around doing chores like yesterday, you _are _apart of the family,"

Neal's lips stretched into a smile, a genuine one at that, "If that's the case Peter…" he grinned, "Save a turkey leg for me,"

Thanksgiving was beautiful, it was a rather nice overcast with a cool breeze in the air. El put together perhaps one of the best Thanksgiving meals Neal and Peter ever saw. After a prayer, they dug into the food – even the dog.

There were laughs and smiles and no regrets. There was so much in the world to be thankful for, and right now, Neal was thankful to have a family to share a Thanksgiving meal.

**_Author's Notes~_**

Reviews are loved~

On one other note, do visit my new, in-development White Collar forum! :D


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